


Charlie's Person-Looking Friend

by dmhello



Series: Person-Looking Friend [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aromantic Asexual Charlie Weasley, Aromantic Charlie Weasley, Asexual Character, Asexual Charlie Weasley, Autistic Charlie Weasley, Bill Weasley is a good brother, Charlie Weasley-centric, Family is complicated, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Molly Weasley Bashing, Other, Slightly - Freeform, asexual aromantic original character, queer platonic relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22061044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dmhello/pseuds/dmhello
Summary: Charlie hadn't meant to get stuck in the boy's bathroom, comb lodged in his long hair and missing more of Potions class by the minute. Charlie had no idea what to do. The person that would rescue him from his knotted mess is not like anything he would expect. They would change how Charlie sees the world, his school, but most importantly: himself. Snippets of Charlie Weasley's life and his journey.
Relationships: Bill Weasley & Charlie Weasley, Charlie Weasley & Original Character(s), Charlie Weasley/Original Character(s), Charlie Weasley/Original Gender Neutral Character, Nymphadora Tonks & Charlie Weasley
Series: Person-Looking Friend [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1990201
Comments: 61
Kudos: 121
Collections: Best AroAce Charlie Weasley fics





	1. Finding a Friend

Charlie felt frustration bubble up, his eyes getting wet as he kept on struggling. All he wanted to do was brush his hair before class. Now his comb was stuck in his hair, painfully entangled into a massive knot he had discovered halfway through History of Magic. He had sleepily started to pick at it to entertain himself through Binn’s lecture, but now he could see he was only making it worse. Charlie let out a pained noise through gritted teeth as he tried to pull the comb out one more time. All it did was make more of the brittle teeth snap off. The sound of them hitting the floor ringing in his ears with each pathetic clatter.

He was full-on crying now, frustrated with himself and his red mess. This wasn’t the first time his hair had knotted like this. His hair, like most of Charlie, looked like his mum’s father and his side of the family. It was almost eerie looking at family photos, his siblings not believing it was another person at first when they found the Prewett photo album in storage. Coming along with his smaller nose with its flat, long bridge, square and darker eyes, tanner skin, and sharp jaw that all made him look almost nothing like his parents, came his maternal grandfather’s hair. A darker red, with a wavy, almost curly texture that his mum had no idea how to handle. Her hair was slightly wavy, but it never knotted like this. That resulted in the only method his mum knew to deal with it: cut it short. Even shorter than she demanded his brothers keep their hair.

Charlie always liked his hair, liked the feeling. He had a thing about textures and how curtain materials felt against his skin. This made second-hand shopping feel more like Russian roulette. His hair was soft, comforting like a puff of cotton. That was why Charlie had grown it out in the first place. It came with the daunting task of ignoring Bill’s offers to cut it as he had at the Burrow when Mum was too busy, but he had made it this far. For all his trouble to get his hair down to chin-level, this is where it had landed him. He was now stuck in a cold boy’s bathroom, missing potions class, with a comb buried and broken in his hair. This was probably going to earn him detention with Snape.

Charlie was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of the stall door latch and the sudden appearance of another person behind him. He stared at the person through the mirror, suddenly very aware of how red his cheeks were and how much he was crying.  
A Slytherin, Charlie noticed, looking around Bill’s age, maybe 12 or so? This person, which Charlie was still calling a person because Charlie couldn’t really tell if they were a boy or a girl by looking at them. They were in the boy’s bathroom, yes, but the fact that it wasn’t obvious one way or the other sparked Charlie’s interest and surprised him.  
Another thing that surprised him was that this Slytherin was still looking at him, but not in a very Slytherin-y way the snakes usually did. This person looked at his situation, and their charcoal eyes turned soft. They stepped closer, digging in their messenger bag before saying, in the softest and sweetest voice Charlie had ever heard.

“Wedged in there bad, huh?” They said before handing Charlie a hankie. Another surprise for the list.  
He nodded, sniffing, and trying to clean up his tears before the Slytherin started to make fun of him. They didn’t look like they were going to start making fun of him, but Charlie knew by now that didn’t mean much. “It will be okay, I have something for that. It is fixable, okay?” They said, taking a bottle from their bag. “We will fix it, and you can be on your way in no time, okay? No worries.”

They walked closer to him, their height towering over the tiny first year by about a full head. Charlie let go of the comb, which was now hanging awkwardly at the back of his head. Charlie was always taught not to trust Slytherins. He'd heard the horror stories from Bill and his parents. But he wasn’t going to get out of this by himself. There was no way he was going to try to find Bill with that thing hanging off his hair, scraping at his neck. They sprayed some of the product onto the knot first, carefully finagling the cheap plastic out of his hair. He had expected it to hurt more, but whatever they sprayed seemed to turn his hair to butter. They sprayed more on their fancy hairbrush, metal and sturdy looking, before completely working out the knot, then going through the rest of his hair. This had taken them 10 minutes tops, all while smiling sweetly at him and encouraging him through the whole process.

“There, all done,” they said, setting the bottle and brush down on the counter. “See? Good as new.”

Charlie nodded, staring at his now unknotted hair. He had always liked the feeling of his hair, but it had never felt this good. He could run his fingers through it easily, feeling like a pillow was on his head.  
“Your hair is really soft by the way. Color is pretty too.” They said, putting the brush back.  
Charlie blushed, having never received many compliments around the subject. Comments usually ranged from “oh red hair, you’re obviously a Weasley” to “You look so different. Almost like a proper pureblood. I’d ask if you’re adopted, but the hair is a dead giveaway.”

“Thanks,” he said, his throat still tight from crying “what's that stuff anyway? It worked wonders!”  
“Oh, this?” They asked, grabbing the spray bottle “An argon and coconut oil mixture. I have that sleek easy stuff too, but this seems to work well enough for me.”  
They flipped their hair as to give a playful demonstration, shoulder-length black locks flicking out. “Of course it gets easier to take care of hair with your type when the hair is longer. You can braid it and stuff to keep tangles out completely, and you look like a Viking so that is always a plus.”

Charlie realized the Slytherin was trying to joke a little too late, but he liked seeing them smile and chuckle anyway. He gave them a grin.  
“Thanks for the help, I would have never gotten out of that on my own. I would have been stuck here for hours.” Charlie said, not wanting to think of what Bill would say if he had been the one to find him crying over something as stupid as his hair.  
“You looked like you needed it. I had a few nightmare knots like that before I made my hair routine, not fun.” They said, picking up their bag and handing Charlie the bottle. “You can keep this one if you like. I have a million bottles of these in my trunk.”  
“Oh,” Charlie blinked, wrapping his hand around the product “thanks, you really don’t have to.”  
“Do not worry about it. I would hate for you to get stuck like that again with no one to help you.”  
Charlie nodded, putting it in his own small messenger bag. There was an uncomfortable silence as he shuffled his stuff back into his bag.  
“So...you said routine, do you have other hair stuff?”  
“Do I ever!” They said, dark eyes lighting up like a clear summer night sky. “Come on, I will show you!”

Charlie followed them out of the bathroom, excited but nervous.  
“I’m Charlie, by the way, Charlie Weasley,” he said as they walked, bracing for impact and the wonderful excitement to fall from their face which usually accompanied his introduction.  
“Blue Hepburn,” they said, smile getting bigger.

Charlie didn’t recognize the last name, which was odd. He at least heard of the pureblood names, even if he didn’t meet anyone from those families. Their first name was interesting too. He had never heard of someone named Blue. Their accent and the way they talked was cool too. Their word choice made Blue sound a bit like an English textbook, or like they were performing an excerpt from an old English novel. It was unusually exciting, and interesting, and overall intriguing. That’s what Blue was like all-around Charlie thought. With their light brown skin, strong dancing figure, and wavy hair that was braided and clipped in all sorts of ways. It interested Charlie. Nowhere near dragons of course, but for a person, Blue was getting higher on his list by the minute, and that scared him a little.

Blue walked Charlie to the Slytherin dorms. They charmed his robes green to sneak him through the dripping wall entrance. A chill went up his body as they walked.  
“Oh yeah, the dorm is charmed so non-Slytherins feel the cold down here. I had forgotten about that,” Blue said taking him through the common room. Charlie stopped to admire it. The common room was mostly empty with class still in session. There were standard common room items like the squishy looking couches and chairs, dark wooden tables that had games or books stacked on them, green-tinted lights that hung from the stone walls, and a warm fireplace. But what made Charlie stop and gawk was the massive wall and skylight ceiling of windows showing a view of the lake’s bustling creatures. Charlie saw a school of fish, mermaids, even shadows of the giant squid in the distance.

“I know the room is cool, but we have to keep moving. You are not supposed to be here, remember?” Blue whispered, tugging Charlie to another stone hallway, going deeper into the unknown for him.  
The Slytherin dorms weren’t much different than the Gryffindor’s rooms if Charlie was honest. The color scheme was different, green curtains instead of red, and the rooms were smaller. They had odd shapes to them, as they followed the shape of the lake instead of being round and cookie-cutter to follow the shape of a tower. Blue’s room was tiny and had no roommates like Charlie’s four. Blue mentioned that all the rooms had a different capacity, and tended to shift in shape depending on how many students Slytherin had. The older years were farther into the lake meaning they had much better views of the sea life than Blue did as a second year. Charlie still stared at their big underwater window for a good minute or so though.

“You really like sea life huh?”  
Charlie nodded “I love creatures, any kind really. Dragons especially!”  
“Dragons? That is so cool.” Blue said getting a box out of their trunk. “I always thought they looked rather upset, but I guess that is just the face.”  
“You’ve seen a dragon? Like up close?!” Charlie asked, excitedly bounding across the room to Blue’s bed.  
“Yeah, one of my great-uncles works on a dragon reserve. He still lives in Romania where my mama is from. Teaches local wizard kids about dragons. Came to my primary school a few times.”  
“You lived near a dragon reserve AND you got to go to primary school?!” Charlie gasped, regretting his lot in life just a little.  
“Well yeah, everyone is required to go to primary school. There are a bunch of little wizard primaries around each city. Though Mum told me that is not what you Englanders do?”  
“No, I was homeschooled. There are primary schools around our county, but they’re all muggle and fancy. Which usually means we can’t go.” Charlie said, recalling how much Charlie wanted so much to go to school, to get out of the crowded house, and play with other kids his age that wouldn’t tease him. Eventually, Charlie learned to stop asking and to get out of the house with other methods. This is when he had his adventures, going all around the countryside and befriending anything he could.

“Must have been lonely being homeschooled.”  
“No, I have six other siblings. One older brother and four younger, and only one baby sister.”  
“That must be exciting” Blue chuckled.  
“It was at first, now everybody’s just loud,” Charlie said, eyeing Blue’s ironically not-blue box. “I don’t think they like me very much.”  
“Why do you say that?”  
“They don’t really seem interested when I talk anymore. They just kind of nod or talk about something else when I try to.”  
“That is awful,” Blue said.  
“I don’t think they mean to, everyone’s just busy...all the time.”  
Charlie blinked, wondering why he was telling Blue all of this and why it felt so easy. Surely he should be telling Bill all of this? Writing to his parents? It what they said to do if he had a problem. He had no idea why telling Blue felt more okay. Why Blue felt more distant, more neutral.  
“I am sure the house is just busy. I know my mum was busy with my little siblings when they were still really young.”  
“How many siblings do you have?”  
“Two younger, a boy and a girl, and we had a few foster siblings come and go.”  
“I’ve never heard of purebloods doing foster care,” Charlie said surprised.  
“I’m not a pureblood,” Blue said sternly. “My mum’s a squib, and mama’s a muggle. I don’t really know what that makes me.”  
“Oh, sorry I didn’t mean...I just never met a Slytherin that wasn’t pureblood before.”  
“They are hard to miss with how much loud hissing they do, huh?” Blue said, their face softening back again. “But who you meet is not all there is.”  
“I know-I just,” Charlie swallowed “I didn’t think the hat would be that mean.”

Blue looked at him, looking a bit like a bird with their hair ruffled and eyes blinking at him. Charlie started to sink into himself. The white noise of the water outside never felt louder as it did when Blue was still.  
“It would seem rather a terrible place to be from the outside, huh?” Blue asked, moving again. “It is not so bad. The bullies are loud, but there are only a few of them. Most of us are quietly trying to do our thing, trying to ignore them as best we can. I want to do more, punch them sometimes, but I also want to sleep here without having one eye open.”  
“One eye opened?”  
“Just an expression, it means you sleep really lightly so you can hear if you are being attacked.”  
“Oh, yeah that doesn’t sound nice. Sleep is normally really nice.”  
“Sleep, one of life’s joys” Blue chuckled as they unlocked their box, opening it wide as Charlie shifted next to them.  
“Woah, that’s a lot of stuff!”  
“My collection," Blue grinned proudly as they turned the box so Charlie could see inside better "all the hair products and accessories I have gotten over the years.”

Charlie peered into the well-organized chest. Bottles like the one they had given him sat at the front all neatly in a row, metal brushes and wooden combs strapped to the lid, curlers, and colorful clips all in little drawers. Charlie ran his fingers along with the different clips, looking to Blue before they said he could touch them. He started opening the drawers, ringing tiny bells on Christmas clips, rolling a cold braid bead on his palm, petting fuzzy cat brooches. Charlie smiled as he saw some clips with dragons on them, picking them up with the utmost care as if they would turn real at any moment.  
“You seem to not have enough hair for a proper braid right now, but I could try to get those bangs out of your face for a bit,” Blue said, holding up the other dragon clips.  
“My family was never big on braids having only one girl.”  
“Oh nonsense, as long as the hair is well, long, braids can be worn by anybody. Come on I will teach you!”

Charlie didn’t know how long Blue and he spent behind their Slytherin green curtains. All he knew was he had learned to do a basic braid with Blue’s hair, and Charlie had two tiny lace braids on either side of his hair, held together by one green and one red dragon clip. But they talked as this happened, about nothing and almost everything at all. Charlie talked about dragons, plus the other creatures he was friends with back home, and Blue didn’t interrupt or brush him off once. Blue got talking about their interests too, hair and makeup and clothes, and how they were already planning to open a salon shop someday.

Charlie snuck back to Gryffindor tower, goodbyes said to Blue at the staircase, and robes set back to their original colors. The Fat Lady (Charlie really thought the name was quite mean. He should really learn her actual name at some point) smiled as he walked to the painting, complimenting him on his hair.  
“You look quite regal,” she said before Charlie gave her the password and a quick thank you.  
Bill also noticed Charlie’s hair, but it wasn't anything like the portrait guardian.

“Charlie, I’ve been worried sick! McGonagall says you skipped all your afternoon classes, and now you nearly missed dinner?! What happened?” Bill said, scowling.  
“I made a friend” he stated simply, a smile on his face that he couldn’t seem to wipe away.  
“Oh what, did you find a braiding baboon in the forest?” Bill said, his expression reminding Charlie of when the twins tried to pull a face to look like Mum.  
“No, baboons live in Africa Bill. And I suppose you could teach one to braid give it time, but-“  
“Charlie, that’s not the focus of this conversation” Bill sighed “where were you?”  
“I was out makin' a friend” Charlie explained, “it’s a person-looking one this time Bill, I promise. Mum told me to make those while I was here.”  
“Yes, but you can’t just ditch all your classes for half the day. It’s only October, but if you miss that much school you’ll fall behind. You’ll never be able to stay on the quidditch team next year if you treat your classes like this.”  
“I didn’t!” Charlie’s smile was now fading “I wanted to get to class, but I got...stuck.”  
“Stuck?”  
“My hair got a big knot and the comb got stuck in the bathroom trying to get it out, but my friend came and helped. They got it out see!” Charlie said, lifting the back of his hair up “and then they did these nice braids. Aren’t they nice?”  
“A bit girlish Charlie” Bill said after a tut. “Look I’m glad you made a friend, but next time you get stuck just come and get me. Or better yet let me cut your hair so this doesn’t happen period-“  
“No!” Charlie nearly shouted, making everyone in the common room stare at the two brothers. All the eye contact made Charlie want to huddle in a corner.  
“Charlie keep your voice down. We talked about indoor volume remember?” Bill whispered “Fine, I won’t cut your hair if it’ll just make you go into one of your tantrums. But you have to explain to Mum it’s not my fault. I’m going to go tell McGonagall you came back.”

Charlie felt marginally worse after talking with Bill than after talking to Blue. He never liked being scolded, and it seemed to bother him more than it ever did Bill or Percy. The twins acted like they were immune to yelling all together, which he really couldn’t understand, even more than the fact they thought loud noises like explosions were somehow fun. Ron didn’t get scolded as much, and Ginny was too young to do much of anything good or bad.

Charlie walked up to his dorm room, closed his curtains, and pulled out the homework he had for his morning classes. One of his roommates Ben Copper eventually brought him his notes for the classes he missed before they were off to the Great Hall. Charlie had tried to spot Blue at dinner, but it was hard to sneak a look at their table for long periods of time. He promised himself to get into the habit of sitting on the other side of the Gryffindor table. He had sat on the wall-facing side to avoid accidental eye contact with people, but now he had someone he wanted to spot.

Charlie fiddled with his wand as he walked back to the tower, twirling it in his hands like a gangster trying to show off a switchblade. He still remembered when he was given his 12-inch ashwood with unicorn hair wand. It was a gift, his maternal grandfather’s old wand he had when he was his age. (It wouldn’t fit nearly as well as the 9 1/4 inch surprisingly swishy wand, plane tree wood, and a Sânziană hair core he would eventually get when he move to Romania, but it did its job for school alright.) The core was similar enough that it responded to Charlie’s magic well. The only problem he ever seemed to have was the length, as he was easily the shortest boy in his year. He didn’t know what the cause of his height problem was. His mother forced enough second helpings on him, but the growth never came. Charlie still liked George and Fred’s theory that Bill was sucking all Charlie’s height when they went to sleep. Bill was more tower than boy these days, walking beside him like a bodyguard. He always towered over Charlie, but now Bill was growing taller and fitter than everyone else too.

“Stop” Bill whispered, gently putting a hand on Charlie’s. “You’re going to accidentally shoot off a spell if you keep that up.”  
Charlie tucked his wand back in his robes, his hands now just stuffed into his pockets.  
“We really ought to find you a less dangerous fidget,” he said sighing, a smile on his lips now “before you accidentally give Percy rat’s ears again. It was funny at first, but you know how he is.”  
“I wouldn’t want rat’s ears either. Especially if they’re anything like Scabbers’ hideous ones.”  
“True, but he knows getting angry only riles the twins up more.”  
“I don’t know why. Pranks should make people laugh. If they know he’s not going to laugh, why do they keep doing it?”  
“Who knows, but they’ll learn eventually. Something will backfire on them, bite them on the butt.”  
“If they make somethin' else explode in their room again, I think I might just bite them myself.”  
Bill snickered “I think Mum will bite them first.”

They both laughed. Charlie, being so distracted with the joking that he smacked right into the back of the seventh-year in front of him. All the Gryffindors had stopped in their tracks. Stillness then turned into anything but, spells flying everywhere. Two Slytherin and Gryffindor boys dueled right in the middle of the hall. Only the steps of McGonagall and Snape managed to cut through the two yelling. Detentions were given, House points were taken, and the boys were dragged to the headmaster’s office. It wasn’t an uncommon ending to dinner. Tensions were still high from the war ending two years ago. Kids were still recovering just as much as the rest of the world, and it seemed to be going as well as the world: not at all.

The prefects shooed everyone back in the direction of the tower. Most were silent or talking in hushed tones about what just happened. No one knew what the fights were about most of the time, only that they happened and no one was doing anything about it.  
Charlie stumbled as he went along, not even realizing what he tripped on was another person until he heard a sharp  
“Would you watch it!”

Charlie whipped around, spotting a girl who was changing from colors that matched the wall to bright pink hair and a Hufflepuff uniform.  
“Woah” he breathed as he walked closer “how’d you do that?”  
“Not even going to say sorry?” She asked, “you almost scuffed my boots.”  
“You’re right, I’m sorry. That would be awful. Your boots are really cool.” He said smiling down at her black leather boots, little bracelet charms attached to the laces which Charlie sat down to touch.  
“Thanks, I like your clips, very punk rock.”  
“Really? Cool! I liked them for the dragons, but my brother said they were kinda girly.”  
“Punk rock can be girly too, but I think they suit you just fine.” She said, grinning at him. Charlie grinned back, sitting on the floor next to the pink-haired Hufflepuff.  
“Thanks, I’m Charlie by the way. Whatcha doing readin’ on the floor?”  
“Reading, obviously. I’m Tonks.” She said jiggling the book a bit for emphasis. “Got it from the groundskeeper.”  
“That big guy in the hut with the puppy that barks at everyone?”  
“Yeah, his name’s Hagrid. He invited me over for tea the first week. Said he knew my parents back in the Order. Wanted to see how we’ve been.”  
“My uncles were part of the Order, but Mum doesn’t talk about it much anymore. It makes her miss them and-“

“Charlie!” Bill said, his breath hollow from running “I swear I turn around for a second.”  
“Hello,” Tonks said waving.  
“Oh, hi,” Bill said with a time of bewilderment. “Nymphadora right?”  
“She said her name was Tonks” Charlie stated, still sat next to her with his chin resting on his knees.  
“Don’t call me Nymphadora. Ever.” She said, “I take it that’s the brother?”  
“Bill Weasley,” he said, sticking his hand out for Tonks to shake, which she did quickly without looking up from her book. “Well...I’ll leave you two to talk... I guess.”  
Bill turned back in the direction of the tower, the look of bewilderment still on his face. He wasn’t used to his brother talking freely with other people. But if Charlie's new friend was Ted and Andromeda Tonks' daughter, Bill guessed he had nothing to worry about.

===

Bill had something to worry about. Charlie had come back to the common room the next day 10 minutes after curfew, his boots covered in mud, and flowers all over his hair. An entrance that became the standard for Charlie after that day. With how much he remembered their mum yelling about Charlie or the others coming in with mud, he tried to be mad about it, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Charlie looked so happy. Bill never realized how unhappy he was before this friendship started. So Bill stopped trying to scold him, stopped trying to take care of Charlie how he thought he should. He eventually just decided to teach him and Tonks the basic cleaning charm, and their shoes became cleaner after that. Not perfect, but cleaner.

Charlie also talked to Bill more, telling him in a big, happy rant what Tonks and he did that day. Most of it was them playing near the forest or the lake or having tea with Hagrid, but every once in a while he’d say that they didn’t do much that day. He came back spotless those days, with a new braid or even some eye makeup and painted nails one time. He didn’t talk about how his little makeovers happened, but those days Charlie was happiest. He tried to hide that fact, but Bill knew with how Charlie started skipping and hopping around, looked in the mirror twirling and giggling, or just beaming whenever one of the girls complimented any of it.

Bill was usually anything but unobservant so it surprised him he had taken so long to realize any of this. After that small revelation Bill started to pay attention to anything and everything about Charlie. Bill worried if he missed what made Charlie so happy aside from the obvious—dragons— what else could he have missed over the years of trying to wrangle all of his other siblings? He was certain his parents hadn’t. It seemed if he didn’t try to notice things about Charlie, no one would.

===

At least Bill thought no one else would. Tonks was observant, but mostly she just made Charlie’s lack of wanting to talk easier by doing it for both of them. Unless it was one of his special interests, then she knew to let Charlie talk and talk. She was Charlie`s best friend out in public, but in private with Blue, he felt his best. He could share all the facets of his personality with Blue, “girly” things and all. Charlie wondered if he could introduce Tonks and Blue, make things way easier. For some reason, he was always hesitant. What they had together was special. Just Charlie and Blue hid from the world. Somehow in Charlie’s mind he and Blue being his big secret added to the excitement. It turned sitting in their dorm room or an abandoned classroom talking and doing each other's hair into an adventure. But mostly Charlie was scared. Tonks was great, and Bill was getting better at listening, but if they didn’t like Blue for being a Slytherin? What was he going to do? Charlie couldn’t lose Blue. He’d do anything to not lose Blue.

Charlie’s fear wasn’t for nothing. Going home for Christmas break only solidified his need for Blue and their space together. He was glad to be home, but the way he felt with Blue, and even Tonks and now Bill, was a stark difference from how he felt at the Burrow. He didn’t want to feel this way. All of his classmates had been ranting and raving about going home for weeks. Something that got everyone so excited shouldn’t have felt like this. And it wasn’t all the time, the first few days went without any incidents. Everyone was so excited the two oldest were home, Percy especially. He had held onto Bill for a whole minute on the doorstep before they could walk up the drive again.  
Charlie did feel a rush of peace when they appeared in the front yard. The light dusting of snow covering the Burrow and its surrounding fields made Charlie almost like winter. Almost.  
The first few days Charlie had a hard time adjusting back to life in the house. He saw Bill struggling with being home before, but he didn’t understand it fully until now. Charlie had been so used to doing things on his own, doing things outside of class, and eating on his own schedule. Being back on the houses’ schedule was jarring enough to give Charlie whiplash.

Hands down the worst part of his break was his mum fretting over his hair.  
“Honestly Charlie, with your hair this long it’ll be nothing but knots-“  
Molly paused in her lecture, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion as her fingers went through his locks with no resistance. The oils and products Charlie was applying had been doing the trick and his hair had kept the texture without getting tangled. It was long enough that Charlie was braiding it at night now. It was nowhere near a rat’s nest when he woke up anymore. He smiled into the mirror back at his mum, chest getting puffed up.  
“I have a routine now Mum” Charlie grinned, getting off the dreaded hair cut chair in the living room and sprinted to get his shoebox. Carefully laid in like a grid it were his comb, oils, the dragon clips, and a potion Blue had brewed to encourage hair to grow faster. All of it kept neatly in his tiny beat-up shoebox “look!”  
“I see,” Molly said, picking a bottle up and checking the label “where did you get all of this?”  
“My friend, they’ve been helping me.”

“He’s been hanging out with Tonks. You remember her, right Mum? Mr. Ted and Andy Tonks’ daughter?” Bill said stepping into the living room. Ginny was in his arms, rubbing her back as she drifted off to sleep. Percy was still trailing Bill as well, and no one blamed him with the twins watching his every move like a hawk.

“Oh yes, I remember Nymphadora. I babysat her a few times when Ted was on a mission. She’s a lovely girl if I recall, very energetic. I’m sure she’ll manage to keep up with you Charlie. It’s a good match.”  
“Mum” Charlie whined “it’s not like that. Her name is Tonks, and she’s my friend.”  
“I’m sure she’s just a friend now, but we’ll see how you feel when you get older, huh?”  
“There’s nothin' ‘just’ about it!” Charlie was raising his voice now, clearly angry. “She’s my friend. She’s important to me. Why do you act like friends don’t matter as much?”  
“Charlie, I’m just teasing. No need to get upset.” Molly said ranking a comb through his hair “just calm down so I can cut your hair. It’s terribly long.”  
“Don’t wanna” he muttered.  
“What was that?”  
“I don’t wanna cut it. I like it long!”  
“Charlie come now-“  
“Mum it’s fine. He likes it long let him leave it. He knows what he`s doing with it,” Bill said, Charlie and Molly both whipping their heads around. Charlie’s mouth was opened wide in a big ‘o’ gaping at his older brother. Bill has never defended him like this to his mum before, and certainly never about this.

Molly scowled, gathering Charlie`s hair in her hands tight “Bill he’s getting a proper haircut. He’s not going back to Hogwarts like this.”

===

“Charlie? You in here?” Bill asked softly. He entered their room, the lights all dimmed, and Charlie was huddled in the corner with just about every comforter in the house. Bill could tell he’d been crying. His nose was dripping and his eyes were red-rimmed. It was the only thing he could see as he wrapped himself in his blanket cocoon.

“Oh, Charlie” Bill sighed, closing the door slowly so it didn’t squeak too much.  
“It’s not fair!” The little blanket lump said, the sound of little feet and fists repeatedly banging harshly against the wood floor. “It’s MY hair! What’s so bad about it?!”  
“There’s nothin' bad about it,” Bill said, crouching next to Charlie and snuggling him so he didn't hurt his hands. “Mum just thinks certain ways about what boy’s hair should look like is all.”  
“Then I don’t wanna be a boy” Charlie sniffed, burying his blanket covered head into Bill’s chest. “I just won’t be anythin', then she can’t tell me how to look.”  
“She shouldn’t tell you how to look anyways, Charlie. You’re not the one that needs to change.”

Bill signed again. He wondered if his mum had always been like this and he just hadn’t paid attention.  
“You know what? We can pack that hair growth potion dad has. The one he used when Fred blew his eyebrows off.”  
“Really?” Charlie gasped, looking up at Bill. He could see little hair locks of what was left of Charlie’s bangs popping out of his bundle. Bill held out his hands and Charlie crawled in his lap, blankets coming with.  
“Yes, really,” Bill said rubbing his back. Charlie's little arms holding onto Bill for dear life. The blankets had slipped off and Bill could see the full extent of the damage. Charlie’s hair was next to nothing. Chopped locks stuck out like they were trying to pick a direction but didn’t have any sense of where to go. None of them were even close to the same length. Bill winced. It was excessive even for Mum’s usual cuts.

“And you know what? I’ll grow my hair out too. She’ll have to reckon with the both of us.”  
“But I thought you liked your hair short?” Charlie asked with brown eyes peering up at him.  
“Never tried to do anything else. Besides, if it makes my brother as happy as it does, it’s got to be worth trying at least once, right?”  
Charlie let out a little sob of a laugh, nodding as he snuggled into Bill’s chest. Bill didn’t know what had happened between the two of them that night, but him offering Charlie his solidarity felt like some sort of turning point. He didn’t fully understand Charlie, but Bill was starting to realize he didn’t have to. All he had to do was be there and let Charlie be Charlie.


	2. Bonding Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie gets gifts for Christmas, bonds with Bill and Blue more, and gets something very uncomfortable.

Regrowing their hair became a routine for Charlie and Bill. They’d get back to the castle and carefully make their way to the potions classroom. Snape made an abundance of the hair re-growing potions for the hospital wing, and Pomphary’s requests almost doubled when the twins started school. So if Snape noticed half a bottle or so gone from his supplies, he never said anything. Bill would apply the potion carefully to Charlie’s roots before cutting his hair to around the length it was when the term had ended. Bill even applied a potion he had found that made his hair grow faster, just to be petty. After all, there was only so much Molly could do to hammer both of them. They stood up for each other. The two brothers would make a game out of it. See how much hair they could get away with.

Bill also started to get Charlie beauty related things for Christmas and his birthday. Most of the family got Charlie dragon-related items—which he loved—but Bill thought he’d put some variety in the mix. That first Christmas home Bill saved every knut he could get from his parents and snuck off to muggle London. It was surprisingly easy for him to disappear with the rest of the family shopping at Diagon. He knew vaguely where the outlet mall was, having shopped there with a couple of ex-girlfriends. Finding it wasn’t the problem. The problem was finding what store would have what he was looking for.

Eventually, Bill found it after desperately asking a worker. He exited the mall with his new bag, and high tailed it back to Diagon to shop for the rest of his family. He hid the package well and wrapped it right when Charlie took his usual walk around the woods. He was determined not to let anyone find out what his present was until Charlie opened it Christmas morning.  
Charlie’s face when he opened Bill’s present, opened last at Bill`s request, made the tedious muggle money exchange and trip all the more worth it. Warm brown eyes stared at the gift when it got released from the wrapping paper, a smile growing slowly on Charlie`s lips.

“It’s nail polish,” Bill said sitting next to Charlie. Their siblings played with their new toys all around them, their parents trying to wrangle the twins from using them on Percy. “But it’s special. They change from one color to the next in the sun, and I know you like any excuse to get you outdoors so-“ Bill let out an ‘ouff’ as Charlie hugged him, snuggling into his chest.  
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Charlie squealed, “Bill! You’re the best!”  
Bill chuckled, surprised at the hug as Charlie didn’t like contact often. “I am pretty great, aren’t I?”  
“Don’t ruin it.”

===

Tonks and Blue also gave Charlie Christmas presents that year. Charlie opened Tonk’s present at the Burrow with all of the others. It was a lined parchment journal with a scale design on the cover. She put in her letter that the journal was leaf leather, a substance that acted just like leather but was made from plant fibers instead of animals. It was charmed to never get worn out no matter how much he took it outside and messed around with it, and there was a drying charm on the parchment so the ink was guaranteed to be dry before he turned the page. Charlie thanked her about 10 different times in his next letter. He wrote how grateful he was she put so much thought into it, and that he had already filled five pages of notes about the regular creatures he visited. Tonks just called him a nerd and thanked Charlie for her new handmade bracelet charms.

Blue’s gift Charlie had to wait until after the break to open. After the re-growing was done and the welcome feast was eaten Charlie snuck to their usual spot, a little corridor off the far side of the castle. It had a skinny window that looked out to the forest and Hagrid’s hut. The place was hard to notice as the entrance was tucked in a corner. Blue had stumbled upon it when hiding from Filch. They had spent too long in the potions lab and missed curfew by four hours. Charlie liked to think the castle made it just for them.

Charlie slipped into the corridor, his shoebox shrunk in his pocket. Blue smiled at him as he came into view, their gift sitting in their lap. It was beautifully wrapped in shiny blue paper and topped with a simple bow and frosted pine tree and cranberry clippings. It was artful, just like everything else Blue touched.

“It’s so pretty, I don’t wanna ruin it,” Charlie said as he clutched his package, which now felt underdressed.  
“I did not make it beautiful because it was going to last. I made it beautiful because I wanted to” they said smiling.  
“Well, that’s poetic” Charlie chuckled as he put the gift in his lap, handing his gift to them over onto theirs. “It’s not wrapped half as nicely.”  
“I don’t expect you to do it too. The fact you got me anything at all is enough Charlie.” They smiled at him again, sitting cross-legged and leaning towards him excitedly “you first.”  
Charlie nodded, taking the wrapping apart and slipping the box out. A few broken strips of tape later and Charlie was staring at a miniature version of Blue’s hair box. He gasped as he opened it. The box was a lovely black with silver trim. Inside was a metal brush like Blue’s except where Blue had a peacock feather in the silver handle Charlie’s was a thin dragon surrounded by flowers and butterflies.

“I-I don’t know what to say” Charlie whispered, holding the brush delicately. This was probably the most expensive thing Charlie had ever held in his life. He had no idea how to handle something like this.  
“I will take that as an ‘I love it’ yeah?”  
“I can’t say how much I love it!” Charlie said clutching the box tight. He watched carefully as Blue opened his gift to them. They pulled out the necklace Charlie had made, the matching earrings sitting next to it.  
“The stones are from the stream near my house,” Charlie said.  
“You made these?” Blue gasped and looked at the jewelry with a new reverence.  
“Yeah, I promise I’ll get you some other stuff too. I can’t imagine what all this cost and I just got stones I`m sorry-“

“Charles Weasley!” Blue said sternly, making Charlie stop everything. “I do not buy gifts because I expect expensive gifts back or flaunt I have the money! I buy it because it’s what I think shows best how much you mean to me. If that was a rock it is a rock, if it is a brush it is a brush. I care about you. You are one of my only friends, my best friend, so I wanted to spoil you. But do not think for a second that what is in this box, no matter the cost, is not going to mean the world to me. You thought of me enough to do anything, enough to hand-make something yourself even, and that is all I want. I just want you here, and the gift is a plus to that. No matter what it is. So that’s the last I ever want to hear about money making your gifts not mattering as much, you hear me?”

Charlie blinked at them, feeling a weight come off his shoulders. He nodded slowly, setting his box next to him and going into Blue’s now open arms.  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you mad.”  
“I am not mad,” Blue said softly “just sad that you would ever think I would think less of you for something like that. You are the person I care about most, after all.”

Charlie tensed. He knew that type of language, knew what it was for, and it wasn’t for friends. He was worried this might happen. That Blue would start feeling romantic feelings for him.  
“C-care about most?” He repeated carefully.

Blue had felt Charlie’s shoulders square-up.  
“You’re my best friend Charlie.” They felt Charlie relax and chuckled, tilting his chin up. “No romance here. I am still aromantic asexual after all.”

Charlie blinked at them. “Asexual?”  
“Yeah, it means I do not experience sexual attraction. The A suffix means lack of. Just like how aromantic means I do not experience romantic attraction towards anyone, or agender means I do not have a gender. A triple-A, if you will.”  
“Like the battery” Charlie joked, making Blue snort. 

There was a pause as Charlie thought. He looked down at his hands, fiddling with his robes.  
“Charlie?”  
“I just never heard of them, but I can’t believe there are words for it...all this time. Everyone kept telling me I’d feel different when I got bigger, but it never felt like it was somethin’ I had to grow out of.”  
“Like this was just you?” Blue asked.  
“Yes!”

“So, a fellow triple-A huh?”  
“I don’t think I’m agender. I never felt not like a boy, but somehow it feels like not being a boy wouldn’t be terrible either. I don’t know if it’s a gender thing for me, or if I’m just tired of people expectin’ me to do boyish things because I’m a boy. There’s a difference you know? And I can’t tell which yet.”  
“Could be both, gender roles can make figuring it out harder than it already is. But if you need to talk it out or need help, I am always here to listen.”  
“Can’t thank you enough for that. I feel like you’re the only one I can talk through this stuff with. Although Bill is getting better. He got me nail polish for Christmas Blue! Like a whole pack’s worth!”  
“Really?”  
“I would have never thought it was possible last year, but he’s really getting better Blue. If there's hope for him, maybe there’s hope for the rest of my family too.”  
“I sure hope so. I do not know what I would do if my family never came around when I came out.”  
“You had problems with your mums? You never mentioned it.”  
“It was mostly them just being confused at first. Not many people talk about being aro or ace. But I talked about how I felt, we did some research together, and they let me figure myself out.”  
“You’re mums sound amazing,” Charlie said.  
“They worked at themselves a lot. They were not always the best listeners, but they had kids and they forced themselves to learn to listen, be patient, and just be there. But I had to do work on my part too. If something was bothering me I told them. I had to realize they were humans too, and humans can be wrong. That was my part: telling them when I had an issue. It was their part to listen, and then try to do something about it together. I just hope your parents do their part. I hate seeing you so unhappy about people that you care about.”

Charlie nodded along, fingers combing through his hair as he proceeded all of this. Had he been doing his part? He told his mum he liked his hair long, but would she be so advent he cut it if she knew the why? Would that make everything better? Did she know how upset it made him or did he just assume she saw everything he did? Should she need the why for all of this? Should he have blamed himself more for this?

Charlie swallowed. He was going into a rabbit hole he knew wasn’t going anywhere good. Talk to her. That’s all he needed to do, and all he needed to think about. Write mum a letter about his issue. See if she does her part and go from there.

“Blue, can you help me write somethin’?”

===

Charlie can remember when he first time he woke up with morning wood. He remembered waking up from a rather dreamless sleep third year and suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. He stared down at his small sleep shorts and wondered how this could happen. Bill joked about this happening after less than kid-friendly dreams, but Charlie didn’t have any of those. He didn’t want any. So what was this?

Charlie didn’t want to panic over this. It was a hard-on for Merlin’s sake. It’s not like this wasn’t uncommon. He wasn’t sprouting tentacles or anything!  
But Charlie was still worried. He was experiencing this, did that mean he wasn’t asexual? He didn’t feel turned on by anything in particular, but this wasn’t going away either.  
Now he was just stuck in his bed staring at his shorts. Cold showers got rid of these right? Now if he could just get to the bathroom without anyone noticing the small tent in his shorts he’d be fine.

Luck had never been on his side, had it? The others had been down to breakfast already, Ben and Jae hadn’t noticed him, but Thorin had always been observant. This was good for dealing with bullies like Merula Snyde, not so great for situations like this.  
“Had a nice night, Weasley?” He snickered “least we know you have one of those.”  
Charlie just shuffled into the shower stall, finding his shower caddie and trying to ignore what was being said on other side of the door.

Cold showers were the worst thing Charlie had ever felt. Ever.  
He was shivering halfway through breakfast, and all he could do was try to ignore the snickering. He faced the Slytherin table, trying to get a glance at Blue. They were eating their regular breakfast—pastries with bacon, eggs, and a coffee— and laughing with a girl across the table, Liz Tuttle. They eventually looked up, a smile spreading right up to their black eyes.

“Earth to Charlie,” Bill said, snapping his fingers near Charlie’s face. “I said are you going to eat that? Our first period starts in 15.”  
Charlie snapped out of his trance and began scarfing down his eggs and toast, and then gulped a coffee down. His stomach was going to be rumbling, but it was better than having nothing in it at all.

Charlie’s leg was bouncing through most of his classes. As much as he paid attention to the lectures and lessons he just wanted the evening to come. So the minute Snape let Charlie go he darted to their meeting spot. He was made to stay later to finish his potion as usual for him. Charlie did everything perfectly, he knew that by the finished product and Snape’s curt indifference to him, he was just slow at the cutting and such. He figured he should thank whoever made potions class the last one of the day or have a free period following double potions like last year. He suspected McGonagall, who had agreed to give Charlie’s test verbally halfway through his second year and had been getting nothing but O’s in theory tests ever since. He hoped she could talk to the other professors and do the same.

Charlie brushed Blue’s hair when they met up. Blue ranted about struggling with the latest charms lesson for their O.W.L.s but stopped when they noticed Charlie being unusually quiet.  
“You usually hum or something when you brush. You are as quiet as a mouse. Non-verbal day or is something up?”  
“I just-it’s somethin’, but it’s a bit embarrassing,” Charlie said feeling his face get a bit pink.  
“I will not laugh, promise,” Blue said, turning around and giving him the scout salute.  
“It’s not that kind of embarrassing” Charlie sighed, muttering his next few phrases.  
“I did not catch that, what did you say?”  
“I had a hard-on, okay!” Charlie blurted, face going completely peach.  
“Oh?” Blue nodded “and is that... good? Bad?”  
“It wasn’t caused by anything, I just woke up with it I swear! But I had it and I didn’t know what to do Blue! Those are only supposed to happen after a wet dream but I didn’t have one. I don’t wanna have dreams like that! What if-I’m experiencin’ sexual things now what if everyone was right and I really do grow out of me being ace?”  
“Hey, hey,” Blue said calmly turning around and putting the brush away. “Charlie come here hun. It is okay.”

Charlie sniffed and climbed into Blue’s arms, shuffling onto their lap.  
“That was morning wood Charlie. It does not mean anything sexual. All it means is your blood was flowing while you slept. It happens. It’s a puberty thing like your voice squeaking or facial hair. It does not mean you had a wet dream, it just means your body is working, okay?”  
Charlie nodded, still feeling himself blushing.  
“Hey, if you are worried, you realizing asexual does not fit you as a label anymore would not be a shameful thing. People have phases, life is nothing but phases, but that does not make your family or anyone else right to invalidate you now. Them not supporting you at this stage in life says more than you having a phase ever will. Feeling sexual feelings doesn’t mean you're not asexual either. Asexual people still have a body, still have hormones, still masturbate, and have sex if they want to. Sex is not sexual attraction, it is often connected, but it does not have to be. Just like you can do romantic things like kiss and hold hands without romantic attraction. It is just an action.”

Charlie blinked, processing all of this. “So if I do somethin’ sexual it doesn’t make me less ace?”  
“No. Asexual is on a spectrum. Some people are completely sex-repulsed, but others are okay with it if a person has a big emotional connection, some are just okay with it period. All those people are still ace. You do whatever you are comfortable with.”  
“So if I wanna hold hands with someone, or do forehead kisses, it doesn’t make me any less aromantic?”  
“There, you got it. Some aromantic people even have relationships, it is just not a romantic relationship. They’re called queer-platonic relationships, or QPRs for short.”  
“Like a forever roommate?”  
“Kinda, though they are probably closer than most roommates.”  
“How do you know all of this?”  
“I said my mum’s and I did research together when I came out right? Well, they do not bug around when researching something to do with their kids. I have whole books on this kind of stuff. I am a walking encyclopedia at this point.”  
“Books sound nice. Do you think I could borrow them?”  
“Sure hun, whatever you need.”

Blue smiled down at him. They had their hands rubbing his back as he sat across their lap. It was funny to Charlie. Usually, when he saw people do this it seemed charged with romance and sexual feelings, but with Blue, it just felt like them. Charlie liked being touched and cuddled when it was done right, he liked the idea of someone holding him. But it was just comforting for him, the way heavy blankets were comforting.

It felt like Blue.


	3. Romania

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie visits Blue's family in Romania. It's an eye-opening experience for him on so many levels.

Charlie liked the forbidden forest, probably too much to be healthy. It was just so exciting. Going into an unknown part of the woods gave him a thrill only something new could give. He liked going into the unknown, open, and ready for anything. This is probably what caused his daydreams of traveling. When someone asked Charlie what he wanted to do after school he always responded with “dragons,” but the phrase “far, far away” always seemed to trail in his mind. He didn’t hate England, and getting away from his family was never the main goal. They were just benefits to him doing what he loved.

He asked Blue to tell him about Romania. What the food was like, the music, how to say hello. Charlie found out Blue was from a little wizard village on a hidden island in the middle of Razim Lake. The town had been there since Roman times but steadily got more modern. It was much more open to muggle culture, which was a standard for most of Europe but especially emphasized in Romania. The country specialized in making electronics. They were the first country to use electric street lamps, and they were everywhere in Blue’s town. Since the island was hidden there was no need to hide people doing magic, but the family Clan leaders that acted as the town council didn’t see the point of completely isolating themselves. There wasn’t much emphasis on pureblood-ness either, since Eastern Europe ran on a clan system rather than strictly going off family bloodlines. This concept stemmed from Romania mostly being rural communities, but also because of Romanians being so devastated by the death toll of the World Wars and then the Soviet Union. It created more of a 'band together' kind of attitude for the magical community. No matter what your blood or name you were part of the clan, so it wasn’t a horror story if someone married a muggleborn or even a muggle. They were part of the community, and that was that.

It sounded like a dream to Charlie. All he could remember of his childhood was his world being at war. Conflict was a constant for the oldest Weasley siblings, all up until Charlie was 9, and You-Know-Who was killed. That sort of conflict was still around, even if it wasn’t about war anymore. All Charlie knew from his dad’s work is that it was tense. He once went to visit his dad last year and ran into Mad-Eye Moody. Needless to say, the man's talk of constant vigilance and how he could be attacked from anywhere left a lasting impression. Now Charlie felt the need to identify exits and make escape routes in his head whenever he entered someplace new. That probably wasn’t normal for a preteen.

Blue offered to have Charlie stay with them sometime over the summer. Charlie had never wanted to say yes to something without asking his parents first so badly in his life.  
But he also wanted to live, so he said he’d write and see.  
He crossed his fingers as he walked up to the owlery to give his letter to Errol. He wanted so badly to see Blue’s world, to find this new place and let himself get lost in it. Molly Weasley had other thoughts on the matter. For one, traveling to another country at 12 alone was out of the question. Charlie sighed as he read the response, adventure squashed before it could even begin. Charlie would see Romania soon enough. Turns out all he needed was the utmost genius that was Tonks.

Tonks knew Charlie had a secret friend. She had figured out that much since they started doing almost everything together. Charlie had said he wasn’t ready for the two of them to be public and didn’t want to deal with the Hogwarts populace pushing them to be something they weren’t. Tonks had just smiled and remarked that “as long as you’re happy and healthy, I’m happy for you Charlie. Just don’t think you can’t talk to me about it okay?”

Charlie wondered how he got so lucky to find a great friend like Tonks. She kept his secret, and just referred to Blue as ‘number 3’ when she asked how they were doing. She did guess who it was every once in a while, which made Charlie laugh as they got increasingly more ridiculous. If their other friends like Penny or Rowan caught any of their conversations about it, they didn’t say. Charlie was grateful he could talk about Blue to Tonks in some capacity because he was starting to see Blue being in his life long after Hogwarts. Just not in a conventional way. Not in the way everyone wanted.

It was two years later, the summer before his fourth year, that the plan was finalized. It had taken two months to prepare since Charlie had to know every detail and think of what he was going to say to everyone. He would tell his mum that he’d be staying over at Tonk’s house to keep her company as her parents went on their annual vacation for their anniversary. Then Tonks would drop Charlie off at King’s Cross to catch a muggle train to the airport. There he met up with Blue, using the two-way mirror they had bought together his second year, and off they were. Charlie had been on a few day trips into the muggle world, but nothing prepared him for the confusing chaos that was Heathrow. Blue had to cover his ears at several points with how loud the noises got, and he could feel himself panicking with all the chatter and beeping with the TSA.

Blue helped him get through it, soothingly rubbing his hand and never letting go of him until they reached the business lounge. Blue had explained what all the scanners and ticket checking were going to be like before this point, but knowing had only helped so much. He sat next to Blue on a big, squishy couch as they brushed his hair. It did the trick eventually. 20 minutes after they got to the lounge he was feeling calm, almost falling asleep from the near head massage he was being given.

Their flight was announced and Charlie felt nerves come up again, but this time he was excited. He’d never been on a plane before, and the thrill of pulling this trip off just added to his adrenaline rush. He’d been able to keep a secret from his entire family, even Bill. The twins had deemed that impossible a few years ago, but he’d done it. He’d lied straight to everyone’s faces. It did bother him how easily lying was getting. His mum had been nosy for her reasons, but her overbearing questioning only seemed to create sneaky children rather than honest children.

He felt a little guilty for doing this. However, the minute the plane got into the air all regret for this trip was poofed away. It was nothing like flying on a broom. It didn’t give him a big rush like when he spotted the snitch. It was more a steady rush that built and built like a mountain. The views were spectacular, and being in the air for hours was something he never thought was possible. The amazement didn’t stop at the flying. Blue and Charlie watched a movie on the plane after Blue explained what a movie was. Charlie was just as captivated by Singing in the Rain as he was with the views. The food wasn’t terrible either (not good...but not terrible)

The airport in Bucharest was busier than the one in London, so the stress just about doubled. Charlie was happy when Blue and he got out with their suitcases. Blue smiled and held Charlie’s hand, letting him walk in a few circles to calm down before guiding him towards two women waiting at the gate. This was what made Charlie the most nervous. He wanted Blue’s mums to love him. Blue had said they told her parents all about Charlie and how excited they both were to meet him, but what if his weirdness got in the way? What if they thought he talked too much or that his fidgeting bugged them? He wouldn't be able to bear it.  
The Hepburns smiled at them both, hugging their child immediately and squealing excitedly as they held Blue close.

“We missed you so much Bluebird!” A woman with a dark, silky, long ponytail, wearing a blouse and simple pencil skirt, heels tapping against the airport tile.  
“You must be Charlie” a woman with short fluffy hair like Blue’s, wearing a bright pink sweater, and leggings. “I’m Ana-Maria, and this is Daniela.”  
“We’re so excited to have you, Charlie." Daniela said putting her hands on Blue's shoulders "We can’t thank you enough for taking care of our Blue at Hogwarts.”  
“Believe me, it’s been the other way around far more often,” Charlie said smiling.  
“You two must be tired from the flight, yes? Let’s get you home.” Ana-Maria said, guiding the two to their car. Charlie had no idea what model it was, only that it was sleek and black like the ministry cars were. Charlie decided he liked riding in the car. He remembered his dad mentioning a car he wanted to fix up. If the car was anything like this one, Charlie was going to start encouraging his dad to fix it up faster.

“Ever driven a car before Charlie?” Ana-Maria inquired.  
“Driven? This is my first time in a car, period.”  
“Is it? Oh, I wish you said something sooner. We’ll start taking the scenic routes. I’m sure this highway doesn’t show off anything worth looking at.”

Charlie loved the views of Romania. It felt wild, with the mountains stretching to the sky, little towns that looked like they’ve been there since time started, and people that looked so comfortable like they belonged here.  
He talked to Blue’s mums too while he looked out the window. About his love for his Care of Magical Creatures classes, the forbidden forest, tails of his friends, and the hidden vaults. Blue talked about potions, how hard it was to please Snape but they managed to do it anyway, how tough McGonagall had been, and how dull History of Magic still was. Daniela told stories of her English country school days, and Ana-Maria talked about the schools here in Romania and how odd Hogwarts sounded in comparison.

“Wait, you got to use lined paper and pencils?” Charlie gasped.  
“Yes," Ana-Maria nodded "why you would force anybody to write notes with a quill is beyond me.”  
“It was very messy at first being left-handed” Blue laughed.  
“It’s messy no matter what” Charlie giggled “especially if you have no coordination. You should see Ron's first tries.”  
“True” Blue smiled.

Charlie gasped when the car got to the small dock. The giant boat appeared on the hour, with workers driving the car down in the lower levels. The four of them went to the upper deck. Charlie loved opening the window and smelling the lake air. The captain said hi to them all, hugging Blue. The staff even let Blue, him, and some of the other children drive the boat for a few minutes. Charlie loved the wind through his hair. He leaned over the edge of the deck, waving to the water sprites as they rode along.  
The town was even more extraordinary. Blue’s mums seemed to know everyone. They waved to everyone who passed them on the road. The town passed him in slow motion, taking in the whole of it one brick at a time. People were walking along with their krumps and kressels along lamp post-lined pavement. The whole place seemed to be a hearth light against the fog. The combination of magic and muggle was nothing like Charlie had seen, but it blurred together so naturally for the place. The town hall, the small café, the bed and breakfast, the small wand shop, and in the center of the city laid a giant hearth surrounded by long wooden tables. Blue told him stories of Yule meals, of Sânziene rituals, and of town-wide birthdays. Charlie for once took everything in stride. He ate up the information and eyed the wand shop in particular. Something about it felt like he needed to go there more than any other shop, but he didn’t have the funds for a wand.  
One day.

Charlie gasped again for the thousandth time that day when they got to the Hepburn household. The tall townhouse was at the corner of one of the older districts. It would look like any other house on the square if it wasn’t for the dark blue door that made the house stand out. The color was inspired by something called the TARDIS. Blue said they’d watch a show later and it’d be explained.  
Charlie walked in carefully, the atrium opening up to a high ceiling room with a chandelier, and a grand staircase that looked like it belonged in Buckingham place. Off to the side were the dining and party/living room, and the kitchen. Upstairs he saw there were four rooms and a few bathrooms. Charlie looked around, spinning slowly as he looked at every detail of the home. The other mansions Charlie had visited for New Years' parties always seemed so cold, but this was pure warmth embedded into the wood and carpet. There were picture frames everywhere. Both muggle and moving photos of the Hepburn’s lives stretching up the stairs and smiling at him from the walls. He saw foster children that had moved on, their three children growing up, a young Blue growing up as he got closer to the living room. It was incredible how personal it all felt with it being so organized.

“Why don’t you get settled in Blue’s room while we get going on dinner?”  
“You cook dinner?” Charlie winced at his comment the second he was done with it. Ana-Maria gave him a look he agreed with honestly. “Sorry I didn’t mean-I didn’t mean I didn’t think you could cook I just-“  
“Used to house elves running estates like this?” Daniela asked.  
Charlie looked down at his hands and gave a sheepish nod.  
“Romania disbanded the house elf system in the early 1900s. They can be hired through the house elf union now. We did employ one when Blue was little and when we have parties, but I work from home so I usually make dinner.” Ana-Maria explained, understanding sweeping over her face as they walked. “I forgot how common it is in England. First time Dani saw a human butler she nearly screeched!”  
“Annie!” Daniela whined, wrapping around her wife. “I’m supposed to be the cool one!”  
“Not a chance dear” she giggled, hanging up their coats and the car keys near the door.  
Charlie let out a breath. He had been so worried his slip up had ruined everything, but they brushed it off easily.

“Come on, I will show you my room. I'm sure my mums want our help with dinner. You said you liked cooking, right?”  
Charlie nodded, surprised Blue even remembered that. Blue’s room was the messiest room he’d seen in the house, but it seemed like an organized mess. Everything had its place in the room. There was a large bed with a cork headboard, covered in pinned up photos and sticky notes. A glass art desk with paint all over the corners set next to bookshelves after bookshelves. The light blue walls were covered in framed drawings and landscape photos that Blue had taken, clear by the cabinet of camera equipment. There was a vanity set on the far wall, covered in boxes of makeup and other products, and a pile of fabric on a futon in the corner.

Blue put their suitcase on their bed and Charlie’s on the futon.  
“I will unpack later. It always takes a while and I have zero energy right now” Blue said sinking into their bed.  
“I think Tonks would agree to that on a deep, spiritual level.”  
Blue laughed, putting their suitcase on the floor and patting the bed next to them. Charlie smiled and flopped next to them, legs hanging off the side as both of them stared at their glow-star-covered ceiling.  
“Tonks seems like a cool chick. How come you never introduced me to her?”  
“Oh well...” Charlie swallowed.  
"Charlie, are you ashamed to be friends with me?"  
"What!? Of course not! I'd defend you to the death if I had to!"  
"Okay, okay, no need to bring up death" Blue sighed "then why? Why hide me from everyone?"  
“I got so used to it being just us. I guess I didn’t want to ruin it, us being just us and not having to worry about anyone else.”  
“Charlie we would still have our us time, I would just know your other friends too. They seem like cool people.”  
“I was scared,” Charlie said sighing “I can’t lose you Blue, and if my friends don’t like you what do I do then? I think how great it would be if we all hung out together, but that fear just creeps up and it just paralyzes me before I can do it.”  
“You would not do it alone. We can just start with Tonks. It does not have to be everyone all at once.”  
“She has been supportive of everything before.”  
“Then I do not see why you're still so scared to show your friend things when you know she loves you and won’t judge.”  
“Past experiences are hard to shake I guess,” Charlie said smiling sadly “I’m just so used to not talkin' about myself and not givin' anyone anything to critique. I don’t think my parents know anything about me, at this point.”  
“I will be here, no matter what Charlie. Whoever you are, whoever you’ll be.” Blue said, linking their pinkies together and swaying their hands slightly. "And I know Tonks and your other friends feel the same."  
“No matter what” he repeated.

===

Cooking dinner was always Charlie’s preferred chore. He hated to de-gnome the garden. The little creatures’ screams as they got flung over the fence still made him shutter. Cleaning wasn’t bad, but the work seemed meaningless as the meticulous work got ruined almost immediately. Cooking he could see where his labor went, could taste when things were done properly or not. It was nice to know he could give someone a meal and see how much they enjoyed it. He liked to take care of people, and that meant making sure they weren’t hungry. So when he saw the Hepburn’s kitchen and saw how different it was to the Burrow’s he was a little intimidated. It was spacious and opened, marble counters lining the multitude of white cabinets. The technology was the most intimidating like an oven, toaster, coffee machine, and a fridge. He’d seen those contraptions in his dad’s workshop, but they were often rusted or broken entirely. These were in good shape and working, and Charlie had no idea how to handle it. He was so scared he’d press a button and the whole thing would explode.

“It’s okay. I know they look complicated, but we will show you around. You’ll be an expert in no time.” Ana-Maria chuckled as they entered the kitchen. She had a white apron on, simple and chef-looking with lots of pockets. Charlie quite liked the pockets.

“Blue can handle the cutting for now. Why don’t you handle the spices? There’s a big spice rack over there beside the fridge. It pulls out, see it?”  
Charlie nodded and dashed over to the tall but thin wooden rack and rolled in out of its hiding spot. Most of the spices were labeled, put in glass shakers, or small containers with scotch tape labels on the tops. Ana-Maria and Blue would call out an ingredient they needed and Charlie would get in, measuring carefully and putting it in a tiny bowl before putting it on the counter. Daniela would put it in the bowl with some meat or the steaming pot of soup. Soon the smells of crushed garlic and roasted pork floated up and filling the entire house. Charlie knew most of the spices, but some of them he hadn’t heard of. He certainly wasn’t used to food having this many spices and herbs in it, but the smell was amazing. There was no way this could end terribly.

“Thank you, dear,” Daniela said as she put the last ingredient into her pot. “Usually the younger ones do this, but they don’t get back from their weekend holiday until tomorrow.”  
“Still sledding with their class trip?”  
“Yes, so enjoy the quiet while you can. Come noon tomorrow it’ll be nothing but chatter” Ana-Maria said smiling.  
“It’s okay, I have 6 siblings. However chattery they get, it’ll still be quieter than my house.”  
“I guess we do not have to worry about annoying you then” she joked.  
“No, it’ll be a vacation, trust me. They’re very loud” Charlie said “no one else seems too bothered by it. It’s mostly just me who hadn’t gotten used to it. It’s a bit odd.”

Daniela and Ana-Maria looked at each other and gave a glance to Blue that Charlie didn’t quite catch.  
“Some people just have different limits.” Daniela said “we have that at the hospital I work at. Some people need complete quiet, others it drives them nuts. Others just get sensory overload if it gets too much for too long.”  
“Sensory overload?” Charlie asked, cocking his head to the side a bit.  
“Yes, sometimes continuous loud sounds or too much information or even feelings of things against their body makes them overload, or even have a meltdown. It makes them want their senses to shut down. It’s not a pretty sight.”

Charlie blinked at a spot on the floor. That sounded like him. Those sounded like one of his so-called ‘tantrums’ as a child. He wasn’t even making a fuss about not getting a toy or food like his siblings did before they had a tantrum. Charlie didn’t mind getting what he got. It was never about anything specific he could remember, never anything like a lost toy that set him off. He’d just ask to leave the crowd or for his siblings to stop being so loud as they played, then everything got too much and he was on the ground with clawed hands around his ears. He didn’t remember much of the in-between. Bill or his mum had to hold him down a few times so he stopped flaying around. Eventually, he learned to cope with it easier through his fidgeting, silence charms, or just leaving before it happened. The memories of when he was little still made him squirm. His mum’s looks of pure embarrassment still too easily conjured.

“Charlie? Everything okay?” Blue said softly.  
“Huh? Yeah, just thinkin’” he said, putting the rest of the spices back in their rightful place on the rack.


	4. The Reason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie reminisces about his life after he finally gets some answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter does contain the R-word and misgendering. It's only once and it's Charlie's interaction with Snape.

Autism

The word still rang in Charlie’s ears as he exited the hospital.

It made everything make so much sense. It had come up at his medical examination when he got hired by the dragon reserve. He had sent the application for their internship the minute his N.E.W.T. scores came in. He had passed, not with flying colors, but he hadn’t failed anything and he had more O's than anything else. Blue’s great-uncle had put in a good word in for him, at Blue’s very frequent request. Charlie had gotten the acceptance letter within the weekend.

He’d been so excited he couldn't wait to show Tonks. Both of them wrote Blue, all three getting along like sparks to wood ever since that summer he’d snuck off to Romania. Now Blue was just waiting at their parent's house. They were taking business courses online until Charlie moved in.

And then there was Hagrid. He’d run the whole way from the castle to the hut to show his letter. Hagrid had ruffled his hair and told him he was proud of Charlie, excited for him. Charlie expected a bit of jealousy too. The man had almost crushed the short boy with his goodbye hug. Charlie had never smiled through those rock cakes more.

He’d told his siblings at dinner. The twins thought the job was wicked, Percy thought it was rather far and dangerous but it suited Charlie (whatever that meant. Probably positive? Maybe?), and Bill wrote that he was happy that Charlie got his dream job and an excuse to travel more.

His dad had written Charlie in congratulations the next week. The fact that it was just a letter from his dad sparked worry. Arthur rarely wrote letters just from him. Usually, Molly would write letters and he would put little ps.’s or notes throughout, but his mum hadn’t written to Charlie at all. This could only mean they had two very different opinions on the matter.  
That was never good. Charlie waited anxiously until he saw his parents for his graduation. He’d held his diploma proud as he flung himself at his whole family. Bill practically picked him up and spun him around with his hug, and all his other siblings nearly made him fall over from tackling him. He was strong and his shoulders wide, but there were only so many people he could fit with his short frame. Molly just hugged Charlie after everyone was done. It was bone-crushing as ever, but it wasn’t warm.

“Mum? What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing Charlie it’s just, well...” Charlie always hated that drawn out well. “Romania Charlie, practically across the world.”  
“It’s not China Mum.”  
“It’s close enough. First Bill with Egypt and now this. I never thought this dragon...thing would take you so far.”

That’s another phrase Charlie hated. His family referring to his oddities as ‘things.’ First, it was the tantrum thing, then the sound and fidgeting things, then the dragon thing, the ace/aro thing, and then the gender or hair thing. Seems the only thing that never got commented on was his seeker skills.  
Charlie wondered how much of himself could be called things before he became a thing.

He knew she loved him, that they all did. He knew she wasn’t trying to hurt him on purpose, that she cared about him.  
It still hurt.  
And that was probably the worst part. This wasn’t like families like the Malfoys that hurt and hurt on purpose. They loved him and nagged because they wanted the best for him.  
They just wouldn’t listen.

So when he had a name to the ‘thing’ that had made him feel so different from his peers? It was like a weight being unlocked from his ankles. He had a reason. He had a valid reason why he needed his tests orally, why his motor skills were slower for tasks like cutting potion ingredients, why he had sensory issues, why he fixated on certain topics, why he had his hate for the wrong texture on his skin. It all made it so clear. He wasn’t just being difficult or needy. He was being a person with autism.

A diagnosis at 17 had its own challenges. A boatload of therapy was one of them. It took a while for him and Blue to track down a specialist, but they found one, two months after they bought their flat. Blue said that they had always had their suspicions that he had something like that going on, especially after talking with Danie, but they had always figured if it was something like autism he would have been diagnosed by now. They were horrified when Charlie said it had never come up as a possible medical thing, and the Wizard hospitals weren’t exactly up to date on non-neurotypical diagnoses. Not that Charlie has ever been to one.

Charlie felt odd as he and Blue entered the little specialist’s office. It was clearly meant for children with plush toys and a giant fish tank. But Charlie guessed a starting point was a starting point. Plus he liked the fish. Why do adult offices never have these again?

He learned a lot from just that first session alone. He was an odd case, most people got diagnosed with autism when they were toddlers and he was a young adult (that fact made Charlie feel fantastic all on its own) but the therapy methods were still around the same. Just without the baby talk. The therapist still talked in simple terms, but it wasn’t degrading. It was just easy for Charlie to grasp. No wondering if he was missing subtext or subtle social cues that he never got, just guidance on his brain.

That was Blue’s biggest take away from the sessions they went together on. How to best talk to Charlie. Blue was pretty good at talking to him already from spending 7 years together, but having an extra layer of understanding helped them live together big time. After that miscommunications between the two started to falter to almost none. It helped with Charlie at work too. With an understanding of how his brain worked differently from his co-workers, he could communicate worlds better. It still wasn’t perfect, and people reacting to his diagnosis in not so friendly ways was a different animal altogether, but Charlie felt he had advocates now. There was a whole community of people he could talk to about how to handle himself better. How to be friends with his brain rather than constantly battling with it.

He felt himself growing better. He felt healthier anyway. Here he was in a town he loved since he first laid eyes on it, with a flat with one of the people he cared about most, and a job he was getting better at on the daily. He didn’t even care that he was the “new meat” and thus got poop duty in the nursery more than anyone. He had the job. (Plus the baby dragons seemed to love him more than anyone now, so screw you, Tony.)

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, Charlie and Blue still had to get used to living with one another. Being a good QPR partner and being a good housemate wasn’t exactly the same thing. Communication was better, but they still had their moments of confusion. Blue was so used to playing the Slytherin game of noticing every little body movement, every little word, and every change in tone. They genuinely couldn’t understand that what Charlie said was usually straight up what he meant. That his body language was fairly simple and readable. That he had a hard time controlling his tone and volume and he didn’t always mean to change it when he talked.  
Having Charlie realize that Blue often meant one thing when they said another was confusing at first for him. But once he started keeping track of Blue’s phrases and ticks in one of his journals, he had several of them now from Tonks, he started to understand their conversations a little more.

Charlie said what he meant, but that didn’t mean he was always vocal. He would do little indicators that Blue had to take the time to learn. Like when he and Blue were shopping. When Charlie stared at something for a long time it usually meant he wanted the item but wasn’t saying anything. He was so used to just glancing at things and not even bothering to ask if his family could buy it. Now their money only went to Blue and Charlie, and the dragon reserve paid well since it was a dangerous job. So Charlie wasn’t used to having the money to just...buy things. He saw something he wanted and within reason, they could just get it. It was a new mindset.

One thing he’d never expected to come out of the diagnosis was the rage. He could have had a word all this time. If someone had just said something, pushed Molly and Author to get him tested. Made an effort to understand him instead of just saying he was weird and leaving it at that. He was angry at everyone’s lack of action. It was Blue and his first real fight, Charlie screaming in tears that they and Dani should have done something. That was new for Charlie, getting so angry he yelled.

Charlie had been upset before, and he remembered lots of times being sad, but he only remembered getting externally angry or exploding at one person. He really hadn’t meant to snap, and it wasn’t even warranted towards the person. He’d heard the comment thousands of times before and it had been said to just about everyone, but something about that day just piled on. One comment was all it took, and Charlie was sent screaming.

Of all the teachers to explode at, it had to be Snape.

===

Charlie had stayed longer for potions class, as usual, one of the last potions sessions before the N.E.W.T.s. Snape had bellowed around the classroom, grumbling about messy students. He did all of those dramatics as he put away stray ingredients for his next lesson in an hour. Charlie regarded this as background noise, but the little clinks of glasses and the tapping of Snap’s boots on the floor were making the grip on his knife tighter and tighter. Being alone with Snape was almost as bad as the class full of meaningless chatter.

“Heat goes off after you add those feathers, Weasley.”  
“I know” Charlie mumbled, trying to concentrate on separating the feather barbs from the rachis. “Despite everything Professor, I can read.”  
“Continue on then,” Snape said, a new prickliness to his monotone droning “if you can handle it.”

Charlie looked up at his teacher slowly, his face feeling hot and usually warm brown eyes growing dark. He straightened up, slammed his knife into the cutting board with a ‘crack,’ and spun around towards Snape.  
“I’m not stupid!” He bellowed, the anger echoing the hallowed lecture hall. “I know how to do this, you act like I don’t but I do! I know what goes into these potions, I know eye of newt is just a fancy name for mustard seed powder, I know acids and bases can’t go together without a neutralizer first, I know how to cut all of these ingredients, I know all the names of goat stomach growths, I know how to do all of this! Stop acting like I don’t just because I’m slow at it! Do you think I don’t want to do this faster?! It’s not supposed to be done at this speed, it’s only supposed to take an hour, you think I don’t know that?! Do you think I do this on purpose? What, I just slowpoke it to spend more time with you and your oh so splendid personality and your shitty cursive mutant handwriting?! I’m not doing this on purpose! I can’t do it like it’s supposed to, I know that!” Charlie was gasping for breath, his face cherry red and eyes now with tears “I’m not retarded, I’m not helpless! Okay?!”

Snape was still, hands tucked into his robe sleeves. He scanned Charlie head to toe with his surprised but still sour gaze. Charlie started to shake, hands coming up to his head as his words sunk in. He’d just screamed at a teacher.  
He just screamed at Snape.  
This was it, he was dead. Snape was going to give him detention forever and take away every house point Gryffindor had ever earned in history.

“I-I’m-I didn’t mean to-I don’t know where that came from I’m so sorry I didn’t mean-you’re handwriting is fine I promise I didn’t mean to explode I never explode, ever, never ever-”

Snape just cleared his throat, his robes shifting until his pale hand slowly emerged in front of Charlie’s face. It took a second for Charlie to notice the hankie between his fingers. Charlie blinked a few times before taking the fabric, wiping his eyes.  
“Whoever you’re actually mad at Weasley, I suggest you finish your potion and go scream at them,” he looked Charlie up and down again “they clearly deserve it.”

Just like that, Snape walked back to his desk. Charlie didn’t even know what to think. He heard bubbling and decided he didn’t have the time. He was finishing this potion, and it was going to be perfect like all the others. He couldn’t give Snape more reason to kill him.

“I am curious” Snape had said after labeling Charlie’s bottle “I’ve never seen one of my students get even a rise out of you, though they did put effort into it. Is there a monumental occasion for that outburst?”  
“I-I had my last career assessment with McGonagall this afternoon...she-“ Charlie swallowed “she was surprised I was leavin' the house for my job, or more had the ability to leave.”  
“You thought she assumed you were incapable of leaving parental-like care and not fend for yourself?” Snape supplied.  
“She’s always been the one to arrange the accommodations for my classes. I thought it was because she understood, not because she didn’t think I could do it.”  
“I doubt that, Weasley. Minerva McGonagall is a Gryffindor, but even someone in that house can’t be that unobservant for this long.” Snape said, holding his hand out. Charlie stared at it “the handkerchief Weasley, it’s far too embellished to let you keep putting your snot on it.”

And old Snape was back. Charlie put it in his hand, putting his own hands deep in his pockets.  
“I have been frustrated with a lot of people today, and this year, but it doesn’t warrant the yellin'. I shouldn’t have yelled at you...I shouldn’t yell at anyone. Being louder doesn’t help.”  
Snape eyes him again, cocking his eyebrow up “you’re more mature than your brothers, I’ll assume that’s the work of Hepburn.”  
“...what?”  
“Hepburn, my top student from last year. One doesn’t sneak someone into my dungeons every week for years without me knowing Mr. Weasley. Robe and hair color doesn’t change as much as you two thought it did.”  
“You knew? All that time and you knew? And you never told McGonagall or my mum?”  
“The minute someone purposely brings your mother bad news about her children is the minute they stop valuing their life, so no I did not.” Snape tutted “Hepburn’s grades improved and he stopped throwing a fist at his housemates after you came along, so begrudgingly, I allowed it. You have yet to make me regret that Mr. Weasley, though you still have a few weeks with us.”  
“I’ll try not to set your green couches on fire on my way out.” Charlie said, gritting his teeth “and it’s them.”  
“Ah, yes...that” Snape tutted.  
“You can’t praise Blue and misgender them in the same breath!”

Snape glared at Charlie “I have a class in a half-hour, and don’t you have somewhere else to be?”  
Charlie glared and grabbed his messenger bag, careful not to snag the ornate dragon head on his handle on the big braid hanging down his shoulder again. “Thank you…sir.”

Blue had mentioned their head of house being more of a complicated person over the years. Charlie never quite knew what they meant until now. Snape was a rather complicated case of a person. (Still shouldn’t have been let anywhere near a school or any child ever in his opinion. He was simple in that regard, but still rather complicated.)

That was the only time Charlie remembered exploding out of anger at someone. It was also the only time he’d ever let that particular r-word out of his mouth. He’d heard it plenty of times, but saying it felt awful. He could have let all his anger about the lack of diagnosis at his family. Maybe when he arrived back at the Burrow. But anger wasn’t going to make them understand any better, and it didn’t make Charlie feel any better either. It just made everything in his head more intense. More intense was the last thing he needed.

The seed didn’t quite go away though. Things left unsaid tend to haunt oneself more than the said ever could.


	5. Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue and Charlie experience the holidays after Hogwarts.

Charlie had not expected his family to be there for Christmas. He still was new to work and thus got a baby dragon shift for that holiday season. He was on the reserve starting at 5 am, keeping the fire in the nursery going and doing that day’s feedings, cleaning out the poop from the night, and ending at 10 am. It wasn’t his ideal Christmas morning, but Charlie supposed he’d have to suck it up like all the other new hires. Blue said they didn’t mind waiting. The two weren’t expected to be with Dani and Ana-Maria until the late afternoon anyways. Christmas was still a major holiday, but it had nothing on Yule for the Romania magical community. So Christmas really was more about the dinner and parties than the morning presents.

It was looking to be a great first Yule and Christmas on their own. However, chaos got thrown into their plans when a week before the holiday Molly, Arthur, and Ginny popped up at the portkey station. Mark the station manager rang up Charlie and Blue’s flat and told them he had a family to pick up.  
Charlie felt his stomach just about exit his body it dropped so hard. He was happy they could come, but the sudden sea of stress nearly made him crawl to the floor and die. At least that’s how the panic felt.

He stopped by the Bed and Breakfast in the village and booked their rooms, saying a quick hello to Mr. and Mrs. Hofer. There were a lot of things Charlie was willing to do, letting his parents stay in their carefully crafted space was not one of them. The line had to be somewhere.

Mark gave him a wrinkly smile at the entrance. He hobbled along with Charlie through the tiny train and portkey station, saying how odd it was so many people came unannounced. His parents beamed when they spotted him, Molly practically bursting into tears. She eloped him into a bone-crushing hug.  
“Mum, Dad,” he said through his now crushed lungs “Gin, I had no idea you were coming. Did I miss a letter?”  
“No dear, we just thought we’d surprise you. You just sounded so disappointed in your letter when you said you couldn’t come home. So we arranged everything and decided to pop up. It’s so wonderful!”  
Molly squealed and held him tighter.  
Charlie let out an uncomfortable laugh “yeah, it’s so wonderful. Mum please, I can’t breathe.”  
Molly released her son and let out another chuckle. Charlie hugged his dad before holding Ginny close.  
“I’m so glad to see you Gin.” He said, spinning her around “are the others coming later?”  
“No, they’re at Hogwarts. It was too expensive to bring everyone.” Arthur sighed “even with the bonuses I got this year.”

Charlie smiled genuinely this time. His and Bill’s plan was still working then. They had been giving a portion of their paychecks to the ministry and had it added to their father’s paycheck as a “bonus.” They both knew it was the only way to give back to their family. Arthur would never take his children’s money in person.

“Are you alright Charlie?” Ginny asked, holding his hand.  
“Yeah Gin I’m fine. I’m just surprised. I really got no hint of this at all.”  
“Good. We were so worried one of the boys would rat us out for making them stay in that cold castle” Molly chuckled.  
“I’m sure they’ll live,” Charlie snorted, “at least none of them have to endure winter in the dungeons.”  
“Oh heavens no. Could you imagine how awful it must be down there?”

Charlie could very well imagine it as he’d spent more time in Blue’s room than his own at times, intruder cold curse be damned. He didn’t need to mention that. Ever.

“Well, I’ll show you to the Bed and Breakfast then. Just booked it on the way here.”  
“Oh Charlie, you didn’t have to. We can just as easily stay in the guest housing on the reserve.”  
Charlie gave her a confused look.  
“Mum the reserve is-I don’t live there. Only the higher-ups live there year-round. I live in the square. Remember, I told you about my new home.”  
“Oh, I thought that was temporary. Never mind then.”

“Say hi to Freeda on your way out.” Mark smiled as he gave the Weasley’s their visas and tickets back.  
“We will!”  
“Who’s Freeda?” Molly asked, a smile on her lips.  
“She runs the toy booth upstairs on the entry floor, also his wife. Been working at this station since they got married in the ’30s.”  
“Toys?” Gin asked, perking up. Charlie smiled at the way Ginny’s eyes cautiously lit like a sunny sky.  
“Yeah, we can stop in there. Get you a little something.”

Ginny looked like Charlie just promised her a kingdom. She skipped along as they walked, Charlie waving or saying hello to just about every worker.  
“You know a lot of people Charlie” Ginny hummed.  
“I do come here every day. I take the underground train to work. It’d be a long commute off-island and to the valley otherwise.”  
“We’re on an island?”  
“Yep, it’s warded so it’s completely hidden from the shore. You can do any spells you want out here.”  
“No muggles at all?”  
“Not ones that don’t know about the magical word. It’s a quick boat ride over so it’s not a big deal if you wanna visit the shore. There’s a beach over there that’s a pretty great visit in the summer.”

Charlie answers as many questions he could from Ginny, happy to gush about his new home. His parents followed behind them, his dad stopping every once in a while to admire the electrical lights or the telephone booths.

“Hello Freeda” Charlie greeted as they entered the little cove booth.  
“Oh hello, Charlie. Wasn’t expecting ‘ou ta be around here. Not ‘til after tomorrow” she smiled at Ginny who was mesmerized by all the handmade wooden toys “and ‘ho’s the little one?”  
“This is my younger sister Ginny, and my parents. They came by for a visit.”  
“‘Ello” Freeda greeted “so nice to see more of your family. I still remember that nice-looking brother.”  
“Bill came here?” Molly asked.  
“Yeah, he visited at the end of the summer. Brought a few housewarming gifts for the flat. Mainly alcohol and an IKEA gift card.”

Charlie kept smiling as Ginny browsed the toys in wonder. All of them were old fashion, handmade, wooden, running on gears and wind-ups. She giggled at hopping frog toys and tiny race cars.  
“Look, Ginny, dolls!” Molly said pointing out the little girls with white frilly Yule dresses. Ginny wrinkled her nose a bit, clearly not what she was looking for at all.  
“Pick what you want Gin” Charlie whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder “I’m paying after all.”  
He winked at her and she relaxed, walking back to the mechanical animals. After 10 minutes of browsing the little booth, she chose a tiny wooden puffskein covered in sheep fuzz. Ginny held it and squealed in delight as she hugged the toy to her face. Charlie chuckled happily as they went to the counter.  
“I got it, Dad,” Charlie said as he saw Arthur reaching for his money sack. He ignored his parents' scowls of confusion and pulled out his wallet, quickly handing Freeda his credit card before they could insist otherwise.

“Curious, paper money,” Arthur said looking over one of Charlie’s leu. “And it all goes in the little plastic slip?”  
“Yep. I hand it into the bank and it goes into my account. Anything I have gets digitized and I can spend it with the card.” Charlie said, exposing digital money best he could.  
“Fantastic.”

Charlie smiled again seeing his dad so happy. Out of all the stress he was excited for his dad to see the town and all its technology. Molly was looking around as they walked too, watching the small town carefully as they went about their day. Kids off from break were running around the coddle streets, kicking footballs around and tossing hacky-sacks. Ginny cocked her head at the footballs at first.  
“Why are they kicking the bludger around like that?”  
“It’s called a football. It’s a non-magical sport. It’s pretty popular around here since the island is too small for a pitch.”  
“No quidditch?” She gasped.  
“Not if you don’t take the train, no.”  
“How could anyone live?”

===

Blue and he had been cleaning non-stop for an hour while his family settled into the Bed and Breakfast. Charlie even tried to stall them more with lunch. He didn’t know what his parents were expecting when it came to his flat. He could bet it wasn’t a modern studio with a jazz record playing.

“Oh, Charlie” Molly “it’s beautiful. How’d you manage this?”  
“That’d be my artistic eye. Though he did help pick out the furniture and take most of the photos.” Blue said coming out of the bedroom and making sure to put wards on the door. Charlie smiled from their futon as Blue stuck their hand out to Molly. They were all stunned to see this tall, dancer built person walk out of the one apartment bedroom. They had changed into dark jeans and a black flower pattern button-up, and more jewelry than Charlie had seen on Blue since their opera night.

“Blue Hepburn, you must be the parents.”  
“Ah, yes that’s us,” Arthur said after he recovered first “it’s a lovely home.”  
“Thank you,” Blue said, pulling their coat and scarf out of the closet. Charlie stayed glued on the blue futon. He let his toes brush against the Afghan throw rug as his parents sat on the big, plush chairs facing them. Ginny sat on a small bar stool chair, spinning it around and ignoring the tension in the room as she played with her new toy on the marble counter.

“So how did you room together? Charlie never mentioned you in any of his letters” Molly asked still eyeing the glass coffee table that separated the two pairs.  
“I’m aware,” Blue said, sipping their coffee with a smile, “my mums helped a bunch when we were just moving in, helping find places after I graduated and saving up until he finished his 7th.”  
“Mums?”  
“You went to Hogwarts?” Arthur asked.  
“Yeah, they did” Charlie nodded “they were in the class between Bill and me.” He said, emphasizing the ‘they’ an almost embarrassing amount as he talked. “One of my first friends I made.”  
“You knew each other before?” Molly asked, her jaw-dropping.  
“Yep.” Blue took another sip from their ceramic mug.  
“For 7 years,” Charlie said, playing with the end of his puffy side braid.

Charlie was rather uncomfortable but he could tell Blue was currently thriving. He just let Blue do what he knew they’ve been wanting to do for years. Act petty in front of Weasleys. Molly was doing her best to make sense of one of her children keeping 12 years of friendship from her, and Arthur was just eyeing the entertainment center against the wall.

“Charlie?” Ginny called, freeing Charlie from the living room area as Blue kept talking to his parents.  
“Yeah Gin?”  
“What’s that?” She asked, pointing to the coffee machine.  
“It’s a kitchen gadget, makes all kinds of coffee and drinks. I can make you cocoa if you want.”  
“Yes please!”  
“Okay. Could use a drink myself with all of this.”  
Charlie guided Ginny through getting hot water and gave her one of his flavored cocoa packets.  
“Didn’t know coco came in raspberry,'' she said. Charlie chuckled before making himself a cup of coffee for himself. He slipped in a shot of vanilla burden from their drink rack before sitting back down.

“Yeah, it’s so nice to finally meet both of you, and for you to turn up as a complete surprise right before Yule too. Very nice touch.”  
“Alright, I think that’s enough green and silver for today Bluebird,” Charlie said, smiling at them from the counter.  
“Fine. I’m taking the presents over to my parents. They still want you over for dinner by the way. All of you.”  
“I’ll be there” Charlie nodded, waving goodbye to Blue. “You don’t mind going over to the Hepburns, do you? I know you probably want to spend time with me, but they’ve been trying to get me to dinner all week. I’m sure they’d love to meet you.”  
“Oh no, that’s fine,” Molly said.  
“We did spring this on you. We don’t expect you to drop everything for us, Charlie.” Arthur said, smiling at his son.

Charlie nodded, his shoulders relaxing. “Well, you have plenty to do during the day when I’m at work. The town’s full of things to see. I don’t get off from work until late tomorrow since I have Friday off. Of course, most of the town sleeps through most of Friday. It’s a late-night after all.”  
“Late night?”  
“Yeah, for the Yule festival” Charlie explained. “Starts at sunset and runs all night. Big dinner, lots of dancing, lots of offerings for the elders, big hearth fire. The whole big celebration.”  
“They celibate Yule here?” Molly says, looking like she’d be clutching her pearls if she had any. “But that’s such a dark holiday.”  
“It’s really not over here Mum. It’s a day of community, of celebrating life to get through the winter, like it’s supposed to be. I don’t know what Yule is like in England, but it’s not just for dark families here. It’s for everyone.” Charlie sighed “just...keep an open mind okay? It’s important for me and Blue.”  
“About Blue,” Molly said, making Charlie pause as he grabbed his coffee mug. Molly got up and walked to the counter, looking at Ginny pointy before the girl scampered off to the futon. “Charlie, honey, are you and Blue...are you together?”  
Charlie fumbled with his shot glass, almost dropping it. “What? No, not romantically.”  
“Because if you were that’d be okay. We don’t mind you being with a boy...or...whatever Blue is.”  
“Mum, please” Charlie whined. “I want to enjoy the holidays. So please, no talk of romance for this trip? Just this once?”  
“Okay, Charlie, okay,” Molly said, placing a hand on her son’s. “Just don’t be afraid to talk to us okay? There’s nothing to fear with us.”

Charlie thought he had plenty to be afraid of. But he wasn’t a Gryffindor for nothing.

“Actually Mum, there is something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. It came up when the reserve did that full medical scan back when they first hired me, you remember that right?”  
“A week of you writing to complain about being poked and prodded by the doctors? How could I forget.” Molly chuckled, face falling a bit “you’re not sick are you?”  
“No, no it’s not a disease,” Charlie said walking with Molly back to the living room area. “It’s just something they found out about me. I just wanted to get it off my chest.”  
“Okay,” Arthur nodded.  
“You know how I always was super sensitive about noise and about textures and things like that? How when I was little when the noise or crowd got too much I would meltdown? Or how I would fixate on certain topics but other than that I didn’t talk much? How I was the ‘difficult’ child for people to watch because I always had that really specific routine?”  
“Yeah” Molly nodded “you don’t forget things like that.”  
“That wasn’t me trying to be difficult. That was me having autism.”

The room was dead quiet, say for the jazz record that had ended.

=======

Charlie didn’t know what captivated him about Sirius Black. He just knew that Sirius was interesting. He visited Grimmald’s Place often when he was in England. Usually, that would be only a few weekends in the summer, but this year he was selected to bring the dragons for the tournament, so he’d be here for a good chunk of the school year. This was new to him, and getting back in the swing of things for England was harder than ever. His accent had changed from speaking so much Romanian. Having his day start at 9 instead of the usual 6 in the morning was nice, but being away from Blue for so long was hard. They handled it well enough, writing frequently, calling even more, and sending each other little care packages every so often. Charlie loved his new cellphone so he could call the apartment phone from anywhere. He had to go to muggle London to do it as service at the Burrow and Grimmalds was absolute trash, but it meant he could update them on England and how the dragons were doing, and they could talk about customers they had at the shop that day, or just talk about how the children they babysat were doing.

Charlie didn’t enjoy arguments usually, but Molly and Sirius going at it was nothing but entertaining. Sirius could quip and sass with the best of them, and when he was sarcastic it was in a way Charlie could tell because Sirius made it stupidly obvious. Charlie enjoyed that. He also enjoyed the fact that Sirius stocked his guest bath with a trove of products, and his liquor cabinet even fuller. They had a few late and tipsy conversations that seemed to slip easily from Charlie’s tongue.

But maybe it was just Sirius Black himself. Because that was just it, he was himself. He knew who he was and he acted unapologetically like himself.

He reminded him of everything he was working to be. Sirius didn’t change for anyone. He walked into a room and you knew who you were going to get. He was a person confident in himself enough to say it and say it proudly, with no one persuading him to do anything but.

He reminded him of Blue.

===  
The war in England was over, but it’s effects still rolled over the world like a flood. Charlie felt like he was a protagonist in one of those ancient world flood stories. The only one who was doing alright while everyone around him was drowning. That’s what it felt like coming back home. He never expected the feeling to follow him on his travels.

It wasn’t affecting Romania much since the culture always saw innovation and community as a priority, but Blue and he felt the war when they traveled. Charlie got to travel for work more often since the tournament, mostly giving lectures and educating at schools around the world, but smuggling eggs too. Like an eggy Han Solo. He loved it. Charlie and Blue soaked up new places. But ever since the war in England it had sparked more hostility in other countries. People being more and more nervous about Death Eater-like groups popping up in their own magical worlds. It made traveling to wizard towns more difficult than ever. Blue and he had taken to using muggle places as often as possible just to avoid it all. Charlie could barely handle going back to England after steeping in the toxic post-war climate. He didn’t want to deal with more of it. He managed to avoid the worst of it with the double citizenship he managed to scrounge up before the regime took over. But the battle at Hogwarts still stuck with Charlie. He hated flinging his most damaging spells at people, some of which he knew as his and Blue’s classmates.

And Tonks. And Fred.

God, he hated that day with a passion, more hatred he could conjure toward a single person. More than he could ever hate anything.

He stayed for a few months after that day taking care of his family. Molly was a wreck and barely got out of bed for the first three weeks. Everyone was in shambles.  
Charlie still had his routine. He made breakfast, delivered meals to everyone’s rooms, washed up, did his work, did the same thing for lunch and dinner, checked up on everyone, did his bedtime activities, rinsed, and repeated. George even yelled at Charlie for not grieving a few days in. Charlie didn’t understand why it didn’t look like he was grieving. He was, and it felt awful, but not doing his routine only made him stressed and make it feel worse.

Charlie just guessed it was a difference in brains.

“Charlie?” Blue said, waving a hand near his face. The dishes in the sink were suddenly in the washer. Charlie swore they had just started to clean up. “Zoned out on me there. You just thinking?”  
“Just thinkin’” Charlie nodded. “Did I miss anything?”  
“No, just your name didn’t do much though.”  
“Sorry, the war’s still is on my mind more than I’d like it to be.”  
“It’s okay Charlie. It’s a heavy topic. It’ll take up a lot of brain space.”  
“But I don’t want it to. It’s over, and I don’t want to think about the past. It’s getting better and I want room for that. It’s almost the holiday, I want room for the happy times.”  
“You will, it’ll just take time.”  
“I hate waiting, but I guess there’s nothing I can do that I’m already not doing. I’m doing therapy, I’m doing my job, I’m doing my best. It’s all I can ask myself to do for now.”  
“The world moves on, so do we.” Blue smiled “it’s all we can do for now.”  
“It just feels like I’m missing something. I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve always been content with everything we had since we moved. It’s all I ever wanted, and now we did that. I feel like there should be something else, but I don’t know what.”  
“You haven’t gone back to England in a while. I know you guys have that big Christmas meal for everyone. Maybe it’s just that? Missing home?”  
“Haven’t been around since Hugo’s birthday, no. I haven’t viewed it as home for a long time. We built this space to be ours.” Charlie said motioning it to their house they had finished renovating that year. “It’s our home. I just want them to be a part of my life. I have a feeling they’d want me happy any form it takes now, not just what they picture happiness as. They just want me to be there, you know?”  
“It’s what you hoped for” Blue nodded “maybe it’s time your family met me? If they’re more open to us being QPR partners now, maybe we can all be happy together this time.”  
“Yeah, yeah you’re right! I’m tired of being scared. You are important to me and so are they. We should all be important together!”

And just like that Charlie was writing to the Burrow. He wasn’t about to pull a surprise on them like they did his first holiday. They’d spend Yule in Romania, then fly to England for Christmas. It was a fine plan. Charlie just hoped it went well. He didn’t know how everyone was going to react to Blue. He hoped the fact they had been a Slytherin didn’t create anything hostile. Bill knew fully about Blue, but that was about it. Tonks had too, but Charlie missed her too much to think about it. He was there for Teddy often now that he lived with both Harry and Tonks’ mother. They had been sending letters to each other for years now. Checking up on her son was the least he could do for his late best friend. Charlie even helped Teddy with a name for the LGBT+ group he created his 3rd year. He really liked that punk rock kid.

Blue and he walked out of the car they had rented after getting to Heathrow. They loved taking the scenic routes for traveling. It made it feel more like an adventure. (Plus they had way too many muggle items for English portkeys to go well.) Blue was bouncing in the passengers seat the entire ride, filming and taking pictures of the snow-dusted landscapes. They stopped at a few shops along the way. They kept getting small presents for the growing Burrow bunch each visit. They even managed to find Arthur a working vintage toaster. Hopefully, this one lasted longer than a month. (RIP Patton the red pyramid toaster. You were missed.)

Charlie went into the house first, instantly bombarded with hellos from younger siblings and Harry. Bill practically tackled him, still lifting him up with ease as he hugged him. Fleur held him too, a bit more delicately but with all the love Bill did. Then his legs got attacked by all the children, Hugo holding on the longest and climbing Charlie like a tree. He was a quiet child and liked books more than people, say for Charlie. Ron thought it was the hair, but Charlie suspected it was something else.

“Charlie!” Molly shouted coming out from the kitchen.  
“Hi Mum” Charlie smiled. Blue came in their suitcase in hand. Everyone grew rather quiet, not expecting Charlie to have a passenger.

“Everybody” Charlie started “this is Blue. Blue this is well...everybody.”


	6. The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for the support for this fic! It makes me so happy that my story touched so many people. I put so much work into my version of Charlie and Blue. If you use my Charlie or Blue in anything you write please let me know and I’d love to read it!

“A butterfly?”  
Blue questioned as Charlie ranted about his day while they both fixed dinner.  
“Yes! All those years of not being able to produce a single corporeal Patronus, and I finally get it and it’s a stupid butterfly!” Charlie sighed “I tried so hard at school and during the war. I had the memories and the feelings. It was all just too bright for me to handle. Tony suggests casting it with sunglasses, and it works, and he just laughs when the stupid butterfly pops out.”  
“Can’t be that stupid is it’s the animal that represents your soul,” Blue said as they chopped some onions.  
“Easy for you to say. You get bats, you know what bats are? Extremely cool Blue, you’re cool. What does a butterfly even mean? I’m fluttery?”  
“For the record, I hated that my Patronus was a bat back at Hogwarts. People already made those Romanian vampire jokes, and then my soul animal turned out to be a bat. They put garlic on my seat for weeks. I never heard the end of it.” Blue said, shaking their head “and I think a butterfly is perfect for you.”  
“What? Why?”  
“They represent change,” Blue said smiling. “You grew as a person, still are, and went through a hell of a metamorphosis when we moved here together. You’ve grown into yourself. You’re no longer a caterpillar waiting for things to get better. You just are now. That’s who you are Charlie, changed for the better.”  
“Wow” Charlie breathed, looking deep into Blue’s charcoal eyes “I never even thought about that.”  
“Also they are very pretty, and you are also very pretty,” Blue said kissing his forehead.  
Charlie giggled, pretending to not like Blue resting their chin on top of Charlie’s head but loving it. They both worked on the basic sauce before pouring it in a baking pan with the tripe, sticking it in the oven after a long prep. Charlie loved Romanian dishes, but the best ones always took so long. So they usually left those for the weekend and left tacos and other quick meals for the weekday.

“You do like your bat now, don’t you?”  
“I’m okay with it. It’s a fruit bat, so at least I got that going for me.” Blue said, snickering.  
They were smiling but Charlie knew they were still wary of their Patronus. The smile never got to their shoulders. So Charlie did the only thing he could think of. Go to the town library and check out every bat book they had.

He learned a lot about fruit bats, but not much he could connect to Blue. At least not on a deep level like Blue had with his butterfly.

“What is all this?” Blue asked with an astonished grin when they came home. Charlie was on the floor surrounded by a dozen books sprawled out like cartoon sunbeams on the rug.  
“Figuring out why you’re a bat,” Charlie said, cross-legged as he skimmed the open pages.  
“...beg your pardon?”  
“You don’t like the fact that you’re a bat, so I’m giving you a reason to like bats.”  
“Charlie” Blue gapped, a smile spread to their lips as they walked over to their partner. “I don’t mind bats. It was more the people making fun of me that I didn’t like. But they’re gone from my life now.”  
“But I thought I’d give you a good reason like you did with me. I know Patronus aren’t always that deep, but I at least wanted to try.”  
Blue shook their head, still looking over all the material Charlie had sticky notes on. “This is incredible.”  
“But I haven’t found anything!”  
“Oh nonsense, all this and there has to be something.”  
“Well, it doesn’t show lots of pictures. They are very cute, and their fur is very fluffy, like you.” Charlie blushed, Blue chuckling as they crouched down on the floor with him.  
“They are also the largest true flying mammals in the world and you are very tall, at least to me.”  
“Not that that’s difficult.”  
“Hey!” Charlie smacked Blue’s chest with the book playfully. “I could have just said you were larger than me and left it at that.”  
“Also true”  
“Yes, but I enjoy that one” Charlie snickered. “Not that I don’t enjoy the height difference, because cuddling and being the little spoon is awesome, but...you know.”  
Blue laughed again, moving to sit on the rug and motioned to invite Charlie to sit on their lap. He came over, gently straddling Blue’s square hips as they placed their hands on Charlie’s lower back.  
“Thank you for this.”  
“But I didn’t find anything deep.”  
“No, but you did do a damn good job of searching. And giving me a very happy memory to cast it with. I can’t thank you enough for this.”  
“Well you are very welcome,” Charlie grinned “and I promise if we ever run into those bullies whilst we travel, I’ll happily hex them to next Tuesday.”  
“Hopefully that does not happen, but thanks.”  
“No problem, your highness.” Charlie rested his head on Blue’s shoulder, snuggling up to them on their spot on the floor.  
“My royal guard, with the cutest tush in the world.”  
“Blue!” Charlie giggled as they moved their hand to rub lower and lower on his back until it got to cup said tush. Charlie wrapped an arm around their shoulder, the other messaging down their chest.  
“Kissing okay?”  
Blue hummed and nodded “not feeling tongue though, maybe later.”  
Charlie nodded, kissing Blue on the cheek and forehead, and tenderly making his way to their lips. They stayed like that for hours, happiness spreading just as far as Charlie’s flush.

===

Charlie’s hair was getting darker.

This wasn’t the usual hair change that happened to hair as one got older either. Charlie only realized that when the texture started to change too.  
There was this thing about hair in the magical community. When people got married the spouse tended to change hair color and texture to match their spouse. It didn’t happen often anymore because marriage wasn’t treated as a magical contract or bond anymore. Only the old families still treated marriage like you were owning someone anymore. Charlie never agreed with the sentiment. The only time it happened anymore is when people were so in love for so long that the magic just started to feel like their magic together. Bill explained it like two frequencies getting closer and closer to the same wavelength over time. It was happening slightly with him and Fleur. Bill had more blonde highlights and his hair was straighter. Fleur's hair was starting to look more strawberry blonde. The change was subtle, but it was there.

But Charlie wasn’t married, and Blue and he weren’t romantic. It would have been something that would’ve made a young Charlie question everything.

Charlie wasn’t his younger self. Charlie cared about Blue, and he’d been soaking up Romanian magic like a sponge since he’d stepped out of the wand shop with the most Romanian wand to ever wand. Of course, his hair was going to change closer to Blue’s. They’d been in the same house for years, and Charlie felt like their wavelengths were similar. Still distinctly them, but closer to each other to when they had started. Charlie loved Blue, and Blue loved him. They were part of his family, he was part of theirs. He loved Dani and Ana-Maria too, he loved how they had been taking care of him and letting him be himself when they visited. He never felt like he had to hide anything from the Hepburns. They were the ones to help him get diagnosed and find his therapist, help him through the process of his dual citizenship, help him through Fred’s death. So his hair changing didn’t send him into a spiral of ‘does this mean I’m not aromantic?’ like it might of ten years ago. He knew this didn’t mean romantic love, that it didn’t just happen to people who were married. It just meant his family was getting bigger, and this time it was all Charlie’s choice. He woke up and chose Blue over everyone else in the world, and he’d continue to choose Blue for as long as the fates had them both breathing.

So Charlie smiled at his reflection in the mirror, brushed through his slightly curlier auburn hair, and simply got into the shower. He’d notice later that evening that Blue’s hair had browner highlights. Their night sky-colored eyes still gleaming the same happiness as the night before. He knew his brown eyes still burst with happiness flames, just like when the fire was set the day they saved him from his comb.

The End


End file.
